Whenever You Call Series: Not Going Anywhere
by La Loba de Mibu
Summary: When a Preventers assignment takes a turn for the worse, Duo has to struggle to get both himself and Heero through the mess alive. Will Heero finally comprehend what he feels for his partner? Pairing: 1x2


**Disclaimer: **I don't own 'em, so don't sue me!  
**Arc:** _Whenever You Call_

**Story Title:** Step 4 – Not Going Anywhere  
**Author:** La Loba de Mibu  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Genre:** Angst, Shounen ai  
**Pairing:** 1+2  
**Summary:** When a Preventers assignment takes a turn for the worse, Duo has to struggle to get both himself and Heero through the mess alive. Will Heero finally comprehend what he feels for his partner?  
**Word Count:** 3300  
**Author Notes:** This takes place in the _Whenever You Call_ universe. It is set a month after the fic: "_What The Rain Knows_". Heero and Duo have been roommates and Preventer partners for over a year, and are currently 18 going on 19 years old. _This can stand alone, but makes a little more sense if you read the previous steps in the series._

I wanna thank the lovely writers of Naruto RPG _Fallen Leaves_, as well as two other awesome authors of the Narufandom, rantyrie and Vernajast LJ, because you guys all inspire me so very much!!

* * *

_Prior Steps_

_Step 1 -- It Starts . . ._

_Step 2 -- Looking For Love_

_Step 3 -- What the Rain Knows_

* * *

Whenever You Call _– Not Going Anywhere_

"Shit, shit . . . Shit!" Duo's voice was more than a little panicky as he frantically tore at the piece of soft canvas.

"I'm . . . not quite sure . . . that's sanitary," Heero's breath hitched in pain as he spoke from where he sat leaned against a stack of large crates containing painting frames. He was pale and his skin was developing a light sheen of sweat.

"Shut up! You'd bleed to death otherwise!" Duo took the strip he'd torn and kneeled in front of him, beginning to wrap it tightly around his partner's torso.

"Kuso . . ."

Heero couldn't help a pained groan when Duo reached the large gash in his side from which blood freely flowed out in a steady stream, gathering into an ever growing pool on the floor beneath them. Duo worked quickly, looping the tough cloth even tighter around the injury to try and staunch the blood as much as possible. But it was a difficult task, what with his hands shaking nervously, and Heero unable to stop the pained tremors rippling thorough his own body. In his haste, Duo pulled too tightly as he tied off the final knot on the makeshift bandages, and Heero suddenly cried out hoarsely and his eyes rolled back into his head as he slumped forward.

"Heero! Oh god, I'm sorry! Heero? Heero! C'mon," Duo caught hold his ailing partner in an instant, propping him back up, brushing sweat soaked hair out of his pale face, speaking with a frantic edge to his voice, "Don't you dare pass out on me now! Heero! Stay here, okay? Don't go anywhere!"

A large slightly trembling hand wrapped itself around Duo's wrist, and pain-dilated blue eyes slowly focused on him.

"I'm here . . . not goin' . . . anywhere," Heero answered a bit breathless.

"Oh thank God," Duo slumped in relief, then suddenly snapped back up with fire in his violet eyes, and smacked Heero squarely upside the head.

"_Chikusho! . . ._ What the _hell_ . . . is wrong with you?" Heero cursed at the new pain in his head, rubbing the site of the blow tenderly.

"You idiot! You nearly gave me a heart attack, are ya happy?!" Duo had planned to ream Heero later, but he just couldn't keep the rant in any longer. "What the hell were you thinking pushing me out of the way like that?! Do I look like a fucking damsel-in-distress to you? NO! You moronic bastard! You could have been killed! And now . . . you could still . . ."

Duo ran out of steam, as he saw that the bandages he had tightly wrapped around his partner's torso were quickly becoming stained through with bright red. His anxiety for his injured partner's survival increased tenfold, and he frowned as he moved to Heero's uninjured side and slipped under his arm to help him stand.

"Why . . . are you . . . so mad?" Heero asked with a little difficulty.

He was having trouble keeping his thoughts straight, and the room swayed uncomfortably when they stood, forcing him to lean most of his weight on the shorter man. They had both grown much taller since the beginning of Operation Meteor; however, Heero had won by several centimeters. What with all the experiments and undisclosed genetic tampering Dr. J had performed on Heero, and the decade's worth of malnutrition Duo suffered on L2, there was no question who would win in the end; much to Duo's ire at times. Considering his upbringing, 171.5cm was really to be considered an accomplishment, and just shy of average; but when compared to Heero's 180cm, it couldn't help but be overshadowed, literally. Still, as an ex-Gundam pilot, Duo's limber size belied his strength; he easily took on Heero's extra weight without so much as batting an eye and helped the injured man make his way slowly through the maze of giant crate piles in the dark warehouse they were currently trapped in.

The assignment was supposed to have been a simple one. Get in, confirm the arms smuggling taking place under the guise of an art trade, get out, and then call in the big guns. However, it had been a trap and the Mob had been expecting them. The odds weren't exactly in their favor, with about 10 men to either of them. Things got ugly quickly; the ricocheting bullets from the shoot out that transpired between the Preventer agents and the Mob men caused a platform of sharp-edged glass panels suspended above their heads to come tumbling down. Duo had been straight in the path of the falling glass, and had Heero not pushed him aside, he would have surely been sliced in half just as the mafia man behind him had been. Unfortunately, the heroics caused several of the thick sheets of glass to slice clean through his side.

In the commotion of spattering blood and shattering glass, Duo had managed to drag his ailing partner into the relative safety of the maze of crates. However, with Heero's blood leaving such an obvious trail, they wouldn't be safe for long. At least eight of the Mob men were still at large somewhere within the warehouse, probably looking to finish them off. Duo had already called for back up, now he just had to make sure they lived long enough to find the exit and see help arrive. He took a cautious glance around the corner of a crate pile, before finally answering Heero's question.

"I'm mad because you had to go and interpret your name literally," he glanced at the other man to make sure he was awake.

Heero gave a tired humorlessly laugh, and coughed wetly, "That's . . . so old."

"Do. Not. Tell me. You're coughing blood," Duo said between grit teeth, his heart beginning to pound a little harder.

Heero wiped the red from his lips, and deadpanned, "Okay . . . I won't."

"Shit! Heero! Now is _not_ the time to show me you've learned how to joke!" Duo cried in frustration. If they didn't get help soon, Heero was going to bleed out on him; and he'd be damned if he was just going to let that happened.

He found another small alcove surrounded on three sides by crate piles and paused to give Heero a rest and try to stem the bleeding again. He helped the taller man sit up propped against the crates and untied the sopping mess of canvas strips from around his torso. Blood still flowed freely from the wound and this time it _had_ to be stopped. He slipped Heero's torn shirt from his shoulders, and balled it up against the disgustingly large gash, ignoring the way Heero's muscles clenched against the pain. He pressed even harder when the olive shirt quickly began to get as soaked as the canvas had just been. Heero jerked and grunted loudly, breathing growing erratic and he gripped at Duo's shoulders as if to push him off, but managed not knot his hands in his partner's shirt instead. Heero shook as he fought to stay conscious through the atrocious pain shooting from his side up his spine until it blinded his vision. In the blotchy whiteness, he caught sight of a shadowy movement behind the braided man, and his eyes widened.

"_D-Duo!_" stuttering over the other man's name was the only warning he had time to give.

He watched through fading vision edged with black as Duo turned, and the shadow behind him fired a round. He felt Duo jerk, and heard him grunt in pain before his gun cocked and fired as well. The shadow gave a dying gasp, but Heero could no longer see anything, and the sounds around him felt as if they were coming from underwater. The last thing he recognized before falling into the comforting darkness was the sound of Duo's voice calling him, desperate and frantic. He tried to answer, but unconsciousness swept over him first.

"'Ro! Don't pass out! Do you hear me?! _Heero!_" Duo shook the other man, but he was unresponsive.

Duo's stomach clenched into a panicked little ball as he looked at the mess of red surrounding them; now the bullet wound in his shoulder was adding to the mess. He heard footsteps approaching behind him this time, and he turned with a snarl and a dangerous glint in his eyes as he aimed his gun for the kill.

"Dammit! Fucking—" Duo cut off in surprise when he recognized the figure before him, "Wufei!"

"Duo! Bloody hell!" he answered, glad to have finally found the pair, but dismayed to see them both seriously injured.

Duo laughed at his choice of words despite himself, but there was a manic edge to it. He kept laughing even as Wufei called over the paramedics and they strapped Heero's unconscious form into a stretcher and carried him away. He moved to follow, still chuckling and then Wufei was there letting Duo lean on him, because a pain in his leg was suddenly making it hard to walk. He looked down and saw the edge of a rather large shard of glass buried deep in his thigh above his knee. When had that gotten there? How come it hadn't hurt before?

Wufei was talking to him in a low soothing voice, promising him everything would be fine. Don't worry. Heero will be fine. No, he couldn't ride in the ambulance with him, because he was injured too, so they had to take care of him in another ambulance. Relax, Heero would be taken care of by Sally herself. Everything would be fine. And Duo realized belatedly it was because he was babbling inanely through his manic laughter.

* * *

The first thing that penetrated the inky blackness was the annoying beep of a heart monitor. Which meant: firstly, that he was still alive, and secondly, that he was stuck at the hospital. Heero managed to pry open his disobedient eyelids after some time, and blinked right away at the harsh sunlight coming through the window. When they adjusted, the first thing he noticed was an unhealthy amount of glaring white everywhere. The second thing he noticed, which stood out in great contrast to the stark whiteness of his sheets, was a head covered in golden bronze strands of silky hair pulled into a long braid.

Duo was sitting in a bedside chair, his body leaned forward so that his head lay cradled on the arm resting on the bed, much as he did when he sat at the kitchen table to watch Heero type. The only thing missing was the conversation and his obligatory stolen hoodie. Heero reached out and brushed the bangs and loose strands of copper that had covered his partner's sleeping face. Duo was looking a bit worn, with dark circles under his eyes, but otherwise healthy and peaceful. Heero frowned however, when he caught sight of the edge of some bandaging. He pushed Duo's braid away to get a better look at his injured shoulder. He recalled his last second warning, Duo's jerking body, and the successive gunshots that still rung in his ears before he lost consciousness. He breathed a sigh of relief, glad to find it hadn't been too serious.

His gaze returned to the brunette's face. He had a dozen questions, but Duo looked like he hadn't been sleeping well. He didn't have the heart to disturb him now that he had managed to get some rest. Instead, he ever so lightly traced the contours of his face, pausing abruptly when Duo stirred. He slowly let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and traced the curve of Duo's cheek until his fingertips encountered his bangs again, settling finally into a pattern of gently brushing his fingers through them. He continued the motions, all the while unable to shake the soaring delight his heart insisted in feeling as he listened to Duo's steady breaths. Duo was injured but alive, sitting here next to him sleeping; not dead in some dark warehouse sliced into unrecognizable pieces by deadly sharp panels of falling glass. Duo's voice suddenly startled him out of his morbid thoughts and his hand stilled in Duo's hair.

"Heero?" Duo's curious violet eyes blinked at him, studying, analyzing quietly for a few silent moments, before he finally spoke again with a small smile, "Don't stop. It feels nice."

Heero stared at him for a long while. Duo's breathing hadn't changed at all, and so he hadn't noticed him waking up. He blinked at Duo's smile and request, before beginning the motion again, a bit more hesitantly now that he was awake. The brunette's eyes drooped shut a bit, and he smiled wider humming contentedly. It made Heero think of a cat, and certainly if Duo were a cat he would be purring; the silly thought made Heero relax again.

"Status?" Duo murmured, looking directly at him through droopy eyes.

"Alright, groggy from the meds, some pain in my side. But otherwise fine," he answered quietly, as if talking loudly would break whatever peaceful spell had fallen upon the too white room, he broke eye contact and looked pointedly at Duo's shoulder, "What about you?"

Duo sighed, "Bullet clean through the shoulder. Have to sling it for a few weeks. Some stitches for my right leg; had a pretty nasty glass shard try to make a home in it. Also groggy, pain's not much. That's why I was able to sneak out of my room down the hall and come over here to watch ya. You've been out for two days, lost a lot of blood. Sally says we'll be ready for active duty again no earlier than a month, but I think we can wheedle our way back to HQ a little sooner."

Heero nodded, taking everything in, finally responding, "I'm sorry you still got cut by that glass."

Duo's eyes flashed with something unrecognizable for a moment, and Heero's brow furrowed in confusion as Duo began to ream at him again.

"You dumbass! I'd almost forgotten about that. Don't think I'll forgive you so easily! If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I swear I'll kill you myself!" he grated.

"Why are you angry?" he once again asked the question he had posed in the warehouse.

"Because!" Duo tsked and sat up in his chair, suddenly unreasonably annoyed, forcing Heero to stop his petting motions, "I'm not a baby who can't take care of himself, or a pretty damsel that needs rescuing Yuy! So the next time you get it into your head that—"

"That's not the real reason, is it?" Heero interrupted him. Duo didn't lie, but he evaded having to tell the truth at times; unfortunately for him, a year of living together had made Heero adept at picking up on those moments.

"What?!" Duo scoffed, "I don't lie! You've got some nerve callin' me a liar, Yuy—"

"Would you have done the same for me?" Heero cut him off with another question and stopped Duo in the middle of his next rant. The braided man looked at him surprised for a moment, before turning his face away.

"In a heartbeat," the words were quiet but held conviction.

"Then I refuse to apologize for risking my life to save yours."

Silence reigned for a moment before Duo spoke again.

"That's not why I'm mad . . . I'm not even really mad at all. I just . . I was scared. I thought . . . I saw the other guy get sliced after you pushed me, and for a minute I really thought . . . and then you wouldn't stop bleeding," Duo pulled his braid over his shoulder and played with the end nervously, "Everyone I have ever loved has died, 'Ro . . . "

Duo sat fidgeting quietly with his hair, not looking at Heero. Heero for his part, lay blinking in astonishment at Duo's choice of words, trying to understand. I s that what it was? The mysterious warm gleam in those violet eyes that only ever appeared when Duo was around him; that made him feel warm and important, and wanted, despite his many obvious faults; the one that awakened an answering feeling deep inside him, that he had yet to fully comprehend; was that _love?_

Before he could ask, the door to the room opened and Sally stepped in, "Oh Duo, there you are! And Heero! You're awake, already? The recovery rate of you Gundam pilots just never ceases to amaze me . . ."

Sally continued to drone, but he paid her no mind as she looked over his charts and checked his vitals, only nodding or shaking his head absently at her questions. He was too preoccupied pondering the meaning of Duo's words to give her his full attention. Finally, she left the room with a warning to Duo not to over exert himself, and left the ex-pilots alone once more.

Heero looked to Duo, but the man wouldn't meet his eyes, still nervously playing with the end of his braid; his face was a slight shade of pink. For only the second time in their friendship, Heero paid witness to Duo's embarrassment. Did this mean he was regretting his earlier words? Heero recognized that the larger part of him deeply hoped he wasn't. Perhaps he was simply afraid that Heero would change his attitude toward him after such a slip of the tongue? Well, that was easily remedied.

"Hey," Heero called to get his attention and padded the bedding where Duo had been resting earlier.

Duo's hand paused in their fidgeting, and he stared at the spot on the bed for a moment before leaning forward once more and resting his head on the bed again, albeit with a smidgen reluctance to Heero's trained eyes. However, whatever he'd been expecting it certainly wasn't that Heero would resume brushing a hand through his chestnut locks as he had been doing earlier. His eyes widened and he blinked comically for a moment.

"Heero?" he asked uncertainly.

"I'm sorry I scared you. But I'm here now, and I don't plan on going anywhere," Heero told him firmly, echoing what he had told him in the warehouse, blue eyes holding the gaze of a violet pair.

Heero decided that Duo's subsequent smile was quite possibly the _loveliest_ thing he had _ever_ seen.

* * *

--Owari--


End file.
